Monday, October 5, 2009

Turnovers: You can either bemoan them or create them

Temple's crowd is going to have to be loud, proud and pink.Photo by Ryan Porter

There's a reason why football is the greatest game ever devised.It's simple.After years of watching the game closely, I've narrowed the keys to winning down to this:1) Put the other guy's quarterback on his butt;2) Keep your QB's jersey clean.There you have it.

The Owls can correct that Saturday by pressuring Whitney's clone, Kelly Page, into turnovers. They can't do anything about Whitney now, but they can commit to putting a defensive game plan together this week designed to put Page on his backside.The formula by which to do that is simple: If you can't get to him with five rushers, send six. If you can't get to him with six, send seven. If you can't get to him with seven, send eight.

Do both of those things and I guarantee a win every time.Some might say win the turnover battle but, in my mind, doing Nos. 1 and 2 inevitably takes care of that more important statistic.Do you hope for turnovers or do you go after them?That's what brings me to Saturday's Mid-American Conference football game in Philadelphia (1 p.m.) between Ball State (0-5) and Temple (2-2).Temple can learn a lot about Ball State quarterback Kelly Page by remembering Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney.Like Whitney, who was a first-team all-state QB in Pennsylvania, Page was a highly-touted high school player.Page was even more highly thought of than Whitney, a first-team all-state in Texas and ranked the No. 12 high school quarterback in the nation by ESPN.com and No. 25 in the nation by Rivals.com while playing quarterback for the storied Mesquite program.What Temple did not do against Whitney was put him on his butt. If Chris Whitney is not on his backside every time he goes back to pass next year in the Mayor's Cup game, someone (Al Golden or Mark D'Onofrio) is not doing his job. Temple did not blitz Whitney and lost, 27-24, when the 'Cats QB dinked and dunked his way down the field against a prevent defense for the game-winning field goal.

What Temple did not do against Whitney was put him on his butt. If Chris Whitney is not on his backside every time he goes back to pass next year in the Mayor's Cup game, someone (Al Golden or Mark D'Onofrio) is not doing his job

It was a glaring error that cost the Owls a game they needed to have.The Owls can correct that Saturday by pressuring Whitney's clone, Kelly Page, into turnovers. They can't do anything about Whitney now, but they can commit to putting a defensive game plan together this week designed to put Page on his backside.The formula by which to do that is simple: If you can't get to him with five rushers, send six. If you can't get to him with six, send seven. If you can't get to him with seven, send eight.Leave free safety Dominique Harris back there with Kevin Kroboth and Anthony Ferla to prevent against the deep stuff.Chances are, though, if you send eight, Page will be on his backside.Or better yet, blindly puts up a pass that gets intercepted.You can either bemoan turnovers or create them.Against Villanova's capable quarterback, the Owls bemoaned them.Against Ball State's capable quarterback, the Owls should do whatever it takes to create them.